Have you spoilt your ballot? A thread to indicate numbers

I really don't see the point of stickers because the Ballot papers only go to people who are being paid £10 an hour to count the ballots if there's anything on there other than a single x they just put it aside and throw away it won't have any impact on them, they won't read any scrollings or stickers etc the person you need to get your message to is the candidate.

you need to tell that candidate or all of your candidates exactly why they didn't get your X remember respect to my sex if you want my X

You haven't said what you saw was anything different to what I always see. The papers are held up and agreed as spoilt, people see them. People don't read them. no one is actually close enough to read them, except maybe when their is a single word or two words written extremely large in a very thick coloured marker. I've seen that. Occasionally. Just the words "Fuck Off" etc Nothing of any more detail or finesse. I have done it many times, I have supported many candidates.

I have no axe to grind. I am simply here as I am in a position to correct the misunderstanding that a spoilt paper is anything other than a spoilt paper. it is not a secret message, it is not read, or recorded. At least, once in a blue moon it might be, but in general the people who see it are 1. The counter who puts it in the spoilt paper pile and 2. the official that holds it up. Neither are going to read it, record it , remember it or tell anyone else what it says - in fact they are banned from doing so

Spoiling your paper is a complete waste of a vote.

I don't care if you do or not

I do care that you are giving the impression to other voters that it is a constructive option. Giving out such misinformation is anti democratic, as I said

My postal vote hasn't arrived.

No, for the first time ever I will refrain from voting. Unfortunately there is no suitable independent candidate in my area and I can't bring myself to vote Labour or to spoil my ballot.

That's fair enough.

As I said, for me having a Terfy MP does make it easier, but I think I'd still vote the same even if they weren't.

This is an important issue, but its not getting enough traction because everything else is falling apart at the same time. The news would much rather focus on the latest scandal, and there's no shortage of them at the moment.

The only things the media can find to bash Labour with at the moment is Corbyn and womens rights. Corbyn is a nothingburger, it'll go away post election, and a Starmer government promises to be deeply boring, which is a good thing! So the primary topic our largely right wing media are going to have to bash him with is women's right. And it'll be glorious, "Women are angry" being the top story on the news. JKR poured a ton of sunlight on this issue yesterday, think how much more amplified that would have been if labour were already in government.

Labour mostly don't have any skin in the game on this, they've leant towards the trans side of the debate because that the way they thought the country was going, and now they've realised we're not, there's a massive amount of inertia involved in changing their tune. When they say the opposite of what they say before, they're accused of flipflopping, so it's all baby steps. Once the media start really bashing them on this, and public opinion starts changing as a result, that's when they'll really start to change their tune.

That's my prediction anyway, watch them implement self-id on day 1 just to prove me wrong!

You know this thread is just going to end up as a big Right Side Of History Vote-Scolding We Own Your Votes and You Are Stoopid and A Waste Of Time halo-polishing self-congratulation, right OP? Oh wait, it already has. Still, I'm sure there is plenty to come so I'll settle in with my self-flagellating birch twigs and some popcorn.

Because yup, I've spoiled my vote, with a heavy heart - none of the candidates in my constituency were acceptable to me. It could be that my spoiled ballot shall be flung aside with a curled lip of sneery contempt by the counters, into a microscopically tiny thimble of stagnant urine. But somehow, I'll live with that more than thinking I owe it to The Heavenly Righteous Party to gratefully offer them my vote as supplication. Besides, if I simply didn't vote, I'd be placed in the equally-sneered-at "lazy can't-be-bothered losers who don't respect democracy" group - at least by spoiling my ballot I made it clear that I could be bothered to vote.

You can argue the toss all you like but I know what I saw.

yes, they are held up, and the "looking" is to confirm they are spoilt, nothing more. This is to make the judgement transparent. You can't actually see WHAT is written, in most cases, sometimes you can, if it is a single word written very large, and you can ask for a closer view, but that is just slowing down what is generally a tick box exercise that everyone wants done and dusted. I have seen a paper queried, and then several people asked for a closer look, before confirming, yes, it was a paper that couldn't be counted. This happens for random ink blots, and stuff like that. Not writing, which is not read or recorded anywhere. Even if people are interested and do look, it is unlikely to be anyone other than bored officials who are trying to make the time go a bit faster. I've been to many counts and seen it many times. Can sometimes be a job to get anyone to go and watch, and it is supposed to be transparent, so people do need to be watching when papers are held up, to be declared spoilt. The people who go are not generally people who care why the paper is spoilt, and they leave not knowing why anyway. They are just there to confirm it is spoilt

Nope, voted for labour.

I see spoiling my ballot as a waste (although better than not voting at all), so I'll vote for the candidate that most aligns with my opinions, and then work to change their minds on the things they don't agree on.

Luckily my local labour MP has already shown signs of being a bit Terfy, so that makes it a bit easier as well.

I have voted in every election since I was old enough; including as a student and when living abroad. I have always been on the electoral register, despite many different addresses during my years of renting in London. I consider it my civic duty to make the effort to vote.

What I will no longer do, however, is vote for the least worst option. It feels actively dishonest to me now. I will only vote "for" a candidate if it's a positive decision.

So I have had to spoil my ballot in recent general and local elections. I was a dutiful girly swot at school, and it felt very naughty. But ultimately less morally wrong to me than putting an X next to a name just for the sake of it being a "proper vote".

I realise others may disagree. Others may hold their nose and vote tactically. Others may prefer the least worst option. Others may go for a solid constituency MP over party politics. I respect all of these difficult decisions.

This thread has experiences from people actually involved in counts. Various opinions on whether this is worth doing, how many people see a message, etc.
However, it's clear that spoiled ballots are seen by candidate representatives.

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/general-election-2024/5091430-spoilt-ballot-papers-the-truth

And a view Voting Counts (though it doesn't mention writing messages specifically):

votingcounts.org.uk/spoilt-ballot

You cant have a proper vote anyway in a relentlessly red ward.
So what the hell.

clear to whom? Clear to the counter who puts it in the spoilt ballet pile - or to the official that holds it up for a second later. Not clear to anyone else

I know for a fact that the spoiled ballots were held up and that candidates looked at them when I did this.

I'm not saying that would happen everywhere. And I may have "got lucky" as it were. But I know it happened in my count.

vote how you like, it is entirely your choice - but don't go thinking a spoilt vote counts for anything at all, or is seen or read or recorded in any way

It is also anti democratic to convince other people that this is a way of being seen or heard, when it isn't.

It is a choice, but it is not a choice that leads to your opinions in any way being counted. A proper vote is counted

@malachitegreen

Spoilt ballots don't show up as caring about anything at all

This is incorrect. Questionable and spoiled ballots get scrutinised by all candidates or their representatives at the count. It's a way to get a very precise message through to all parties.

And because of the effort required to spoil a ballot (vs just not vote), if there are a more than a couple spoiled for the same reason parties tend to listen at least a bit.

Also: any vote except the single deciding vote in each constituency is in one sense wasted apart from signalling. So why not signal very directly.

such as what? It doesn't matter anyway, as they are locally based, but voting for the greens indicates to other parties that you care about the environment

clear to whom? Clear to the counter who puts it in the spoilt ballet pile - or to the official that holds it up for a second later. Not clear to anyone else

I think I will join you with that message.
Family have always voted Labour and some of them very politically active within the party. My ward is a Labour stronghold.
As a biological woman I can't vote for them this time and may as well let them know why.

Another postal vote spoiler here. I'm quite pleased I'd already completed my ballot at the weekend, as I probably would have gone full green biro after the attempts at clarification of Labour's policy on Monday.

I promise you they are NOT. I have been to enough counts to know. They are just tallied up as spoilt. Many have rude diagrams or single swear words on them. The only people to see them clearly will be the counter who puts them in the spoilt pile. They will later be held up for anyone who wants to to confirm they are spoilt, but the not all parties will bother to send a rep, and those that do won't be able to see what is on them, and even if they do, they will not be recording anything.

I feel for the spoilers. I've been there. It's a gut wrenching feeling. I won't need to do this again but when I did do it before, I made damn sure my reasons for spoiling were eminently clear on the paper.

I actually felt relieved. Not voting Labour "because I always had" and they "might be different once they're in" was the right decision.

It felt like leaving a bad relationship.

This!!!

The greens are as bad or worse on these issues as any other party. They've long since given up any environmental perspectives.

Spoiled ballots are considered by all the parties as a source of information on voter thinking. If a voter takes the trouble to go to the polling station and spoil the ballot that is a sign to all parties that they are not reaching voters and it therefore carries some weight.

No-one in their right mind who can't vote Labour because of their policies on women's rights is going to vote Green. Have you SEEN the kind of shit they get up to?